The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 15, Number 12
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
High school referendum
Brochu: The community said ‘do this’ By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Board of Education President Gary Brochu admits that March 15 was a long, difficult day for him. But when the day was done, the referendum on the renovate-as-new plan had passed by a decisive margin. That vote means officials can proceed
with the knowledge that the community is behind the project. “In some ways the town is better off,” to have gone through the first referendum (June 2010, which failed) and then to have revisited the issue, Brochu said. Now, instead of a vote that was nearly a toss-up, the project See Community, page 7
Citizen photo by Olivia L. Lawrence
A “thank you” sign in the window is a token of gratitude from the Berlin High School community to the larger community.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Video success keeps coming for two BHS seniors By Katherine Vandrilla Special to The Citizen Two Berlin High School seniors are getting noticed as videos they’ve made get air time and awards. Kendra Manthey and Austin Nunes have been working on films since sophomore year and have made three public service announcements along with short videos. One PSA routinely airs on television; an anti-smoking announcement entitled “On Top of Old Smoky.” They entered it in a contest as part of the “Tobacco: It’s A Waste” campaign. The PSA will have a two-year run on television as part of their prize for winning the contest. Nunes said that the best part of the experience is that “we have not gone to school for this. We learn from doing.” Their next project is
Director Austin Nunes and PSA star Kendra Manthey. working on a documentary about UpBeat. Their video “How BHS Stays Healthy” won first place in a nationwide contest. A PSA produced
See Success, page 13
Restaurant row lines up on New Britain Road By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
From fast food to fancier fare, no one goes home hungry after a stop on what could be called Berlin’s restaurant row. No, it’s not on the scale of 46th
Street, New York City’s famed restaurant row. Still, there are eight eateries along a quarter-mile stretch of New Britain Road. These fall into two main clusters, according to Jim Mahoney, director of economic development. There’s fast food such as McDon-
ald’s, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts. And then there is destination dining at three independentlyowned establishments: The Baltic featuring Polish food, Portofino’s featuring Italian food, and the No Name Tortilla Grill featuring Southwest-style food.
(Plus there’s Empire Pizza and Happy Garden Chinese, two staples of take-out or informal dinner plans.) The restaurant diversity is “nice to have,” Mahoney said, adding that
See Restaurant, page 9
Citizen photos by Olivia L. Lawrence
No Name Tortilla Grill, 259 New Britain Road, offers patio dining. Portofino’s, 246 New Britain Road is “a fine Italian ristorante”. Owner Zofia Karwowski outside The Baltic, 237 New Britain Road.